One of the most beautiful hill station of Arunachal Pradesh, located at about 1500 metres above mean sea level in the midst of the pine clad mountains, a Hidden land by Ursula G. Bowler. Ziro is is found in the mysterious state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. The area is famous for having pine hills, mountain rice cultivation and for its fascinating Apatani people. It has been a favorite town for World Heritage Site for a number of years now. In a meeting of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on 12 December 2012 it was shortlisted for inclusion in the Tentative List for further nomination to UNESCO for inscription in the World Heritage Site.

The land of Apatani’s is a valley, uneven and dotted with a number of hillocks beneath the lust paddy field. On the east, a high ridge, which demarcates the plateau from the wooded hills of the lower region. The ridge is having some important peaks. The Salin peak is on the old Apatani trade route to North Lakhimpur.

Apatani’s have few unique special characteristic features which differs from other tribes in Arunachal Pradesh and India. Few of these special characteristic features are: (A) Apatanis are permanently settled in one place whereas other tribes are nomadic in nature move from one place to another in search of fertile lands. They travel vast area of forests and settle temporarily for not more than four to five years in one place. (B) Apatanis cultivate permanent wet land cultivations whereas other tribes practice dry land cultivations by clearing the forests by burning the jungles. (C) Apatanis used to practice facial tattoos before; now they have dropped this custom few decades back.

Apatani Cultural Landscape

Ziro is included as in India’s Tentative List for UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.

The best time to visit Ziro is during the Murung Rituals in January or during the Dree Festival of July where the tribe practice animal sacrifices to honor the Gods. Ziro Music Festival is an another international event held in Ziro.

During the farming season, tourists can take part and observe the rice cum fish cultivation, where fish is reared in the rice fields.